Poems, Notes, and Drawings

Overheard

It might be said that those who laugh at beginners are afraid to begin themselves. But this fear is also a beginning.

It might be said that those who rush to lavish praise on masters of their respective callings and crafts, are not aware that these same masters understand that in the face of so much beauty and immensity they are beginners still, and feel this is natural.

It might be said that beginning, both collectively and individually, is our one abiding skill, and that our entire history is a record of our most memorable beginnings.

It might be said that ancient trees, rivers, oceans, and mountains are busy writing too, and that we are only one of the tablets and languages they use.

NOTA BENE

As a Category, “Everything and Nothing” is roughly equivalent to “Marginalia,” but with an added twist: it’s the name of a book written by Ross Freeman, the hero of my unpublished novel, The Smiling Eyes of Children.

community

Small Flat Stone, Handpainted

A confident, nattily-dressed frog smoking a fat cigar, by Glen Ragsdale (1955-1974). Title: “Billy.” Signed by the artist. On granite, about half an inch thick, worn smooth by the Kings River in California.

Signature For The Old Language — 2013

Drawing for the New Revised Edition.Stories, Poems, and Memoir in Armenian Translation.